FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HINRICH - PAGE 5

The Chicago Bulls officially announced Monday the Kirk Hinrich signing that the Tribune reported on July 8. The move will be the first of many announced in the coming days. The Bulls will decline Omer Asik's three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet from the Houston Rockets because they will be hard capped at $74.3 million while paying the luxury tax for the first time in history. By using a portion of the $5 million midlevel exception for Hinrich and earmarking the biannual exception of $1.9 million to sign Marco Bellinelli, it's impossible for the Bulls to match even Asik's $5 million starting salary and stay below $74.3 million.

Tests confirmed Kirk Hinrich suffered a concussion during the fourth quarter of Friday night's exhibition victory over the Pacers. The Bulls' guard will be sidelined indefinitely. “He'll have to go through a series of tests, make sure he's OK,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He said he was feeling a lot better (Saturday).” Hinrich suffered the injury when he smashed into teammate Erik Murphy on a drive and his head made contact with Murphy and the floor. He exited during the ensuing timeout and retreated to the locker room, then left the United Center before game's end. The NBA instituted protocol for concussions that involve the player passing a variety of tests before being allowed to resume activity.

Sam Smith, the Tribune's pro basketball reporter, is biased toward his favorites and against his not-so-favorites. He has been very critical of Tyson Chandler, and his latest criticism is directed at Ben Gordon (Tribune, Dec. 28). Meanwhile, his favorite, Kirk Hinrich, can do no wrong. Hinrich plays 34.5 minutes compared with Gordon's 26.9 and their stats are much alike. Yet Smith has nothing but praise for Hinrich. If the future of the Bulls depends solely on Kirk Hinrich, they have a bleak future.

Bulls coach Scott Skiles, general manger John Paxson and the Tribune's sportswriters are brutal and constant in their criticism of some Bulls players, singling out ex-Bull Jamal Crawford and current players Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler and Ben Gordon. They blame them for the Bulls' failures but never Kirk Hinrich. Hinrich is the fair-haired poster child who apparently can do no wrong in the eyes of Skiles and the sportswriters. Hinrich is shooting 39.6 percent from the field and less than 35 percent from three-point range.

Just over two years after getting traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Washington Wizards, sources said free-agent guard Kirk Hinrich has verbally agreed to return to the franchise that drafted him. Hinrich, who spent his first seven seasons with the Bulls, is expected to sign a two-year deal worth just over $6 million, one source said, though details were still being finalized. The free-agent moratorium ends July 11. Hinrich solves the Bulls' primary need for a combo guard who can start at point guard while Derrick Rose rehabilitates from knee surgery, then slide over to shooting guard to back up Richard Hamilton and play alongside Rose eventually.

Kirk Hinrich spent last weekend with former Kansas teammate Nick Collison and some high school buddies in Las Vegas. The results were "not very good," according to Hinrich. But the Bulls don't feel they're gambling one bit with Hinrich. They view him as a longtime NBA player who lives basketball and the trip to Vegas a total anomaly. "I'd never had a vacation in my life," Hinrich said. "Now it's time to get to work." Hinrich visited Chicago on Tuesday for a news conference at the United Center.

Kirk Hinrich's sprained left ankle isn't as bad as it looked Wednesday. Bulls trainer Fred Tedeschi said Thursday that Hinrich is day-to-day and "it's not out of the question" for Hinrich to play Saturday night at New Jersey. Hinrich was able to bear weight on the ankle Thursday but didn't practice. He said he hoped to return Friday. "It's not as serious as we thought," Hinrich said. "I've had bad sprains in my left ankle before, and it's definitely not one of my worst ones."

Kirk Hinrich downplayed a right elbow injury, which was X-rayed after the Bulls' 113-104 loss to the Wizards on Sunday. The X-ray was negative, Hinrich said. A doctor who examined him said he likely has a sprained ligament, Hinrich added. "It's really just something minor," said Hinrich, who scored 17 points. But as he spoke to reporters Hinrich kept a firm grip on the elbow. It has bothered him for a week or so, he said. Painful gain Luke Schenscher had as many points Sunday as Tyson Chandler--three--and two more rebounds with eight.